At current oil prices, total U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise this year compared to last year, but it will be driven by the Permian down in West Texas. That’s because less oil means slower-moving oil, and slower-flowing oil means colder oil. Pipeline operator Alyeska is adding heat to keep the crude oil warm and to prevent water from freezing in the line. Referring to the pipeline, Alaska Governor Bill Walker told Bloomberg in a phone interview:“We need to see oil in that pipeline. The state’s oil production has been declining.

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Oil Prices Still Too Low To Allow Angola Balance Its Budget

Several offshore projects launched before the oil shock are coming online over the next 18 months, and would add more than 400,000 bpd to Angola’s oil production. OPEC’s production cuts are not expected to lift oil prices to more than $60 per barrel this year. Angola’s oil production averaged 1.748 million bpd in 2016, and its production capacity is expected to reach 1.9-2.0 million bpd by the end of this year. But if the OPEC/non-OPEC agreement to collectively curtail output fails to deliver in terms of oil price gains, Angola may be faced with both low oil prices and declining production, according to Platt’s Ford. Oil production and its supporting activities account for around 45 percent of Angola’s GDP and more than 95 percent of exports, according to data by OPEC.

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After a lesser draw than expected to crude inventories, oil is selling off on this third Wednesday in April. (Click to enlarge)2) It is also interesting to note that Saudi Arabia oil inventories rose in February amid the export lull. We discussed earlier in the month how JODI data showed that oil inventories dropped to 262 million barrels in January, down from a peak of 329 million barrels in October 2015. Waterborne imports bottomed out in early 2015 – at exactly the same time that Bakken shale crude production was peaking out. This uptick in Gulf Coast refining activity, in combination with imports remaining somewhat in check, has meant oil inventories have drawn down on the Gulf Coast by 3 million barrels.